What can Paytm gain if the acquisition of start-ups Nearbuy, Little go through?

Paytm is said to be in advanced talks with Nearbuy and Little for their acquisition.

A shop keeper accepting Paytm. Photo: IANS

Key highlights:

The two start-ups offer discount deals to restaurants, salons and commercial establishments

Paytm to get a boost the company's presence in the hyperlocal space

Groupon sold majority of its stake in Nearbuy to Sequoia India for $20 million

Mobile wallet company Paytm is in advanced talks to acquire two deals platforms, Nearbuy and Little, according to Live Mint report. The two start-ups offer discount deals to restaurants, salons and commercial establishments.

Nearbuy formerly went by the name Groupon India. While Little Internet too offers the same type of discounts to restaurant and salons.

If Paytm does acquire these two start-ups it will help boost the company's presence in the hyperlocal space.

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Paytm has been expanding at a very fast pace, as it grew from a digital wallet company to let users book movies, hotels and travel through its platform. It has even started its Paytm Mall to take on Flipkart and Amazon.

Besides this, the company had also started its payments bank in May, as it received the license from RBI. The company managed to raise $1.4 billion in funding from SoftBank Group in the same month.

A month earlier, it had acquired majority stake in ticketing platform Insider.in so that events of the company could be shown on Paytm.

The acquisition of these two coupon companies would provide a lot of support to its e-commerce business, Paytm Mall, by it able to attract more customers to it by offering discount deals from these two start-ups.

Nearbuy was earlier part of parent company Groupon Inc, which is listed on Nasdaq. The company broke away from its parent in 2015 and was scouting for fresh equity. Groupon sold majority of its stake in Nearbuy to Sequoia India for $20 million.

It was subsequent to this that the company was re-branded to Nearbuy. In 2016, the firm raised $2.2 million in debt from Blacksoil Capital.

However, it has been tough for Nearbuy and rival Little in terms of expansion.

Little was started by the founders of Zovi in July 2015 and raised $50 million from Paytm, SAIF Partners and Tiger Global Management. SAIF Partners is also a large minority investor in Paytm.

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